In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first pinot noir grapes planted in the Willamette Valley, The Oregonian/OregonLive is telling the stories of the founding families. To tell the story of the Sokol Blosser Vineyards and Winery, here is Susan Sokol Blosser. Full story »

They borrowed from each other and bought used equipment on the cheap. They learned to farm grapes through voracious reading, swapping stories and trial and error. Each year they survived, their winemaking and sales pitch improved. And they brought Oregon with them. Five decades after David Lett's first planting, more than 17,000 acres of the Willamette Valley is dedicated to pinot noir grapes, spread among more than 440 wineries. Full story »

As Oregon toasts the 50th anniversary of the first pinot noir grapes to be planted in the Willamette Valley, though, the state's fast-growing wine industry is facing the possibility that there might not be a 100th. Full story »

The $21 million will be through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which doles out money to help farmers utilize practices that conserve water and make healthier soil. Oregon is in its fourth year of drought in some parts of the state, and this year is expected to be the worst. Full story »

B-Line, a bicycle delivery company, is going to become a permanent resident of The Redd, a new Central Eastside development that is intended to give a home to small and mid-sized food processors. Full story »

Farmers in the Mount Angel area are running out of water as drought settles into the Northwest. They want to build a reservoir in on Drift Creek on farmland between Silverton and Salem. The problem is that they'd be taking land away from competing dryland grass seed farmers, who don't want to sell. The skirmish has drawn attention to a struggle that might become more common as water dries up in the west: how will we store and allocate water in the future? Full story »

Oregon is lacking in the middle -- the size of farms and processors that allow fast-food chains, for instance, to serve local, affordable ingredients. According to a study by Ecotrust, a nonprofit that focuses on building a food system that is environmentally and socially conscious, there is a gap between farmers markets and mainstream food purveyors that could be profitable if filled. Full story »

SP Wholesale Meats shipped sausage that was made with oregano that had wheat in it. The oregano, produced by Oregon Spice Co., was recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because it didn't have a notice on it that it could trigger a gluten allergy. Full story »

President Barack Obama name-dropped some small, but well-known, companies during his speech in Portland promoting a free-trade agreement. He also touched on the struggle for some Oregon wine companies to compete internationally, as they try to elbow into the market in Asia, now dominated by European and Australian imports. The Oregonian/OregonLive has written about many of the companies and... Full story »

One irrigation district, the Roza, is halting its water deliveries to 1,700 customers for two weeks or more, and buying water from another district instead. That way, the Roza can store up more water for later in the summer. Full story »